Drop end gondola car



May 15, 1951 o. INGRAM DROP END GONDOLA CAR 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 14, 1946 H SHAW/14m m zawfm May 15, 1951 Filed Feb. 14, 1946 O. INGRAM DROP END GONDOLA CAR 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 fiLamMs May 15, 1951. o. INGRAM DROP END GONDOLA CAR 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 14, 1946 May 15, 1951 I lNGRAM 2,553,457

DROP END GONDOLA CAR Filed Feb. 14, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 latented May 15, 1951' UNITED STATES PATENT: OFFICE DROP END GONDOLA CAR Orville Ingram, Washington, D. 0. Application February 14, 1946, Serial No. 647,609

My invention relates to railway freight cars and more particularly to gondola cars having drop end doors which, being disposed in an upright position when closed, are movable in opposition to the action of gravity uponv being moved from open to closed position.

Drop end doors of gondola cars commonly weigh about 850 pounds apiece. Considerable difliculty is, therefore, usually experienced in moving the doors upwardly from their horizontal positions to their closed vertical positions. Two or more workmen are customarily required to effect closure of these doors or else some mechanical means, such, for example, as a crane, which is not often available, must be employed.

The principal object of the invention is to provide simple and reliable mechanism capable of practical application to the drop end door of a railway gondola car for imparting to the door, whose swinging movement from open position to closed position is opposed by the action of gravity, 2. force generated by the opening movement of the door itself which tends to force the door toward closed position and is of sufficient magnitude to enable a single workman to move the door from open to closed position.

A primary feature of the invention consists in employing a single torsion rod which is energized upon an opening movement of the door to provide a force tending to return it to closed position, one end of the rod being immovably held in a bracket'secured to one corner of the door and the opposite end of the rod being immovably held in a bracket secured to the car body adjacent the opposite side of the door.

Another feature of the invention consists in providing the drop end door with a pair of brackets at the lower corners thereof, one of which is provided with a pintle rotatably mounted in a bracket carried by the car body and the other of which is formed with a hub portion rotatably mounted on the floor of the car.

A further feature of the invention consists in providing the drop end door with brackets secured adjacent the lower corners thereof, a torsion rod being immovably held in one of the brackets and extending through an opening in the other of said brackets for attachment to the car body so that the rod is energized upon an opening movement of the door to provide a force tending to return it to closed position.

Other and more specific features of the invention, residing in advantageous forms, combinations and relations of parts, will hereinafter appear and be pointed out in the claims.

6 Claims. (01. 105406) In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a vertical transverse sectional view of a railway gondola 'car showing the lower por tion of a drop end door provided with the invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figures 3 and 4 are enlarged sectional views taken on lines 33 and 44 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a side view, as viewed from the right, of the bracket secured to the lower right hand corner of the drop end door shown in Figure 1.

Figure 6 is a front view of the bracket shown in Figure 5. 1

Figure 7 is an enlarged view taken online 1 -1 of Figure 1, omitting the car floor and other parts of the car. 7 v 1 Figure 8 is a side view, as viewed from the left, of the bracket secured to the lower left hand corner of the door, V.

Figure 9 is a front view of ,the bracket shown in Figure 8, a portion of the bracket through which the torsion rod extends being broken away.

Figure 10 is a sectional view taken on line I0 I0 of Figure 1, the car floor and other adjacent portions of the car being omitted.

Figure 11 is a side'view 0f the car bracket illustrated in Figure 10, as viewed from the right side thereof, the securing bolt being omitted.

Figure 12 is a sectional view of the car bracket taken on line l2-l2 of Figure 10.

Figure 13 is a plan view of one of the halves I of the bushing which is inserted in the door bracket illustrated in Figure 9. Figure 14 is a front view of the half of the bushing illustrated in Figure 13, as viewed from the left of that figure.

Figure 15 is an end view of the half of the bushing illustrated in Figure 13. Figure 16 is a view corresponding to Figure 14 of the other half of the bushing.

Figure 1'7 is a view similar to Figure-15 of the other half of the bushing.

Referring moreparticularly to the drawings, I indicates the drop end door of a railway gondola car having sides 2, and a floor 3. The underframe of the car which may be of any usual and well known construction is not illustrated nor is the upper portion of the car and of the drop end door, as these parts may be of any suitable construction and form no part of the present invention. The floor 3 Y may be advantageously formed of metal plates welded to the side walls or side sheets of the car as indicated in Figure 1,

bracket adjacent the-opposite side ofthe' door,

opening or inward movement-of the door will subject the rod to torsion'whichwillw provide a force tending to return it to upright or closed position. The force exerted by the torsion rod Various modifications may be made in the vention disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. Door mechanism for a hinged drop end door of a railway gondola car involving brackets secured to the lower corners of the door, brackets secured to the car body between the side walls of the car and the opposite sides of the door, the brackets on the car being spaced transversely of the car from the brackets on the door, and a torsion rod extending transversely of the door adjacent its lower edge connected to one of .the brackets on the door and having its other end connected to the bracket secured to the car body adjacent the opposite side of the car, the other one of said brackets on the door having a portion provided with an opening through which said torsion rod extends, said portion of the bracket loosely encircling the rod, said door being movable transversely of its hinge axis so that the lower edge of the door will accommodate itself to lading remaining in the car to thereby enable the door to swing from closed to open position.

2. Door mechanism for a hinged drop end door of a railway gondola car involving brackets respectively secured to the lower corners of the door, brackets secured to the car body adjacent opposite sides of the door and respectively spaced laterally from the brackets on the door, one of said brackets on the door having a hub portion rotatably supported on the car floor and said hub being provided with a substantially centrally disposed opening, and a torsion rod extending transversely of the door adjacent its lower edge, one end of said torsion rod extending through said opening and being secured to the bracket on the car body adjacent thereto and the opposite end of said rod being secured to the bracket on the door at the opposite side corner thereof the portion of the rod disposed within said opening being of less size than the opening so as to permit the lower edge of the door to move transversely of its hinge axis and thereby accommodate itself to lading remaining in the car.

3. Door mechanism for a hinged drop end door of a railway gondola car involving brackets respectively secured to the lower corners of the door, brackets secured to the car body respectively adjacent opposite sides of the door, the brackets on the car being spaced transversely of the car from the respectively adjacent brackets on the door, means hingedly connecting one of the brackets on the door and the adjacent bracket on the car, a rod extending transversely of the door adjacent the lower edge thereof having polygonal ends of greater cross sectional area than the rod, one end of the rod being secured to the bracket on the door which is hingely connected to the bracket on the car and the other of said brackets on the door having an opening to permit the polygonal end on the opposite end of the rod to pass therethrough, the last menis'sufiiciently great that the door may be easily I'closed by a single workman.

structural details of the embodiment of the intioned polygonal end of the rod being secured to the adjacent bracket on the car body whereby said rod is energized upon an opening movement of the door to provide a force tending to return it 'to closed position, said means and said opening, in one of the door brackets permitting the lower edge of the door to move transversely of its hinge axis to accommodate itself to lading remaining in the car to thereby enable free swing ing movement of the door.

4. Door mechanism for a hinged drop end door of a railway gondolacar involving brackets respectively secured to the lower corners of the door, brackets secured to the car body respectively adjacent opposite sides of the door and disposed laterally thereof, one of the brackets on the door being in engagement with the floor and having an opening therethrough, the other of said brackets on the door having a recess and pivotally connected to the adjacent bracket on the car in spaced relation with the car floor, and a torsion rod having one end immovably secured in said recess and having its opposite end extending through said opening in the door bracket at the opposite side of the door and immovably secured to the adjacent bracket on the car body whereby said rod is energized upon an opening movement of the door to provide a force tending to return it to closed position said pivotal connection of said opening permitting movement of the lower edge of the door transversely of its hinge axis so that the dOOr may accommodate itself to lading remaining in the car to thereby enable free swinging movement of the door.

5. Door mechanism for a hinged drop end door of a railway gondola car involving brackets respectively secured to the lower corners of the door, brackets secured to the car body between the side walls of the car and the opposite sides of the door and spaced laterally from the brackets on the door, one of the brackets on the door having a projecting hinge pintle loosely mounted in the adjacent bracket on the car, and a single torsion rod extending transversely of the door adjacent the bottom edge thereof and having its axis substantially parallel with the axis of said pintle, one end of said rod being immovably secured to the door bracket having said pintle and the opposite end of said rod loosely extending through an opening in the other door bracket and being immovably secured to the adjacent bracket on the car so that said rod Will be energized upon an opening movement of the door to provide a force tending to return it to closed position, said pintle and said opening permitting the lower edge of the door to move transversely of its hinge axis so that it may accommodate itself to lading remaining in the car to thereby enable free swinging movement of the door.

6. Door mechanism for a hinged drop end door of a railway gondola car involving brackets respectively secured to the lower corners of the door, brackets respectively secured to the car body between the side walls thereof and the opposite sides of the door, a torsion rod extending transversely of the door adjacent the lower edge thereof having polygonal ends of greater cross sectional area than the cross sectional area of the rod, a polygonal recess in one of the brackets secured to the car body for receiving and holding against rotation one end of said torsion rod, the adjacent bracket on the door having a portion formed with an opening loosely encircling said rod, and a polygonal recess in the bracket on the door adjacent the opposite side thereof for v receiving and holding against rotation the op- REFERENCES'CITED posite end of said rod. said last named bracket The renewing references are of record in the on the door having a hinge pintle loosely mounted me f this tent; in the said bracket secured to the car body ad- UI?IED STATES PATENTS jacent thereto said pintle and. said opening per- 5 t mitting the lower edge of said door to move trans- Number Name Date verselyt of its hinge axis so that the door may 181,643 Edwards Feb. '1, 1905 accommodate itself to Vlading remaining in the 1,119,940 Edwards Dec. 8, 1914 car to thereby permit free swinging movement 2,061,318 Gilpin Nov. 17, 1 936 of the door. 10 2,167,427 Tatum. July 25, 1939 ORVILLE INGRAM. 2,205,823 Rice June 25, 1940 2,452,163 Swann Oct. 26; 194 

